Literature on the impact of speech-to-text (STT) technology on text production is limited, with a predominant focus on students with learning disabilities. The widespread availability of STT suggests its potential integration into regular teaching practices; however, this remains understudied. The present study explored two conditions of narrative text production—STT and keyboarding—using a counterbalanced within-group design to measure text productivity, vocabulary, and sentence construction. Eighty-one middle-school students (Grades 4 and 5), typically from regular classrooms, participated in the study. The results revealed that students produced longer texts and in less time with STT than with keyboarding, and they used more diverse vocabulary. Sentence structures revealed an increase in punctuation and sentence length with STT. The text-based measurements were positively correlated; for instance, if students produced longer texts using the keyboard, they did so similarly with STT. In conclusion, young students can benefit from STT as a complement to traditional transcription, developing their narrative textual expression and reflective skills in knowledge acquisition. The implications of these results are discussed.

Some Swedish schools do not identify and support students with reading difficulties efficiently enough during the first years at school. A longitudinal design was used to examine a multitiered RtI-model for identifying and supporting students at risk of reading difficulties in a Swedish school context. The results demonstrated that the RtI-model could be successfully applied. The proportion of students in need of support (i.e., below the 25th percentile) was significantly reduced after two years. Compared to students in the reference group (n  = 759), significantly fewer students in the RtI group (n  = 113) scored below the 25th percentile in word and non-word decoding and reading comprehension in a short text at the end of Grade 2. The discussion highlights the RtI-model’s original ideas.

The recommendation to introduce shared book reading during the child's first year of life is widely acknowledged. While prior research has focused on the benefits for children, recent studies instead examine the impact on the reader. Studies have found a positive effect on parenting skills and parental well-being. Further, parents express that the joint activity fosters physical and emotional closeness as well as parent sensitivity. The present study explores parents' experiences of interactive shared reading with their infants, aged 8-18 months. Through an intervention, parents learned and implemented reading techniques such as gestures, onomatopoeia, and vocalizations and encouraged infant participation. Interviews were conducted with 11 parents, and data were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Two overarching themes emerged, each with two subthemes. The first theme "Playful Reading" includes (1) the parent's pleasure of reading in the interactive approach and (2) sharing a moment of emotional closeness with my infant. The second theme, "Discovering and learning about my baby's way to communicate," explores (1) observing and ascribing significance to the infant's communication and (2) feelings of wonder attributed to the infant's capabilities. Sharing books is a mutually enjoyable activity for both parents and infants. Parents appreciated the playful approach during the reading activity and the emotional bond that developed. Additionally, using the interactive shared reading techniques helped parents recognize and value their infant's communicative abilities. Future studies examining how interactive shared reading affects the reading activity as well as the parent are discussed.

Many studies have examined students with reading and writing difficulties. However, relatively little research has examined reading difficulties in students with intellectual disabilities (ID). The present study included 70 students, 46 with mild and 24 with moderate ID, from six different upper secondary schools for students with ID in southern Sweden. The study had the following aims: first to investigate the students’ reading ability, and second to compare students’ reading and listening abilities. The results revealed that few of the students reached the average decoding and reading comprehension levels for grade 3 students in compulsory school. Furthermore, students generally performed better on listening comprehension than reading comprehension, and this benefit was particularly prominent for students with moderate ID. These findings suggest that systematically practicing listening comprehension may help students with ID increase text assimilation. However, more research is needed to confirm this possibility.

Aim: Writing is a multifaceted skill involving planning, transcription, and revision that is challenging for students with intellectual disabilities. Some studies have examined reading abilities. However, there needs to be more research on writing proficiency in this population. Especially concerning writing with the assistance of technologies such as speech-to-text (STT). To contribute to filling the research gap, this study aimed to investigate whether tailored speech-to-text interventions enhance text production for students with intellectual disabilities.

Methods: The research utilised a single-subject design involving the participation of four students (three girls and one boy) aged 10–13 years with mild intellectual disabilities in a rural municipality in Sweden.

Results: The results of this study revealed significant improvement post-intervention for all four students in word, sentence and text qualities.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that STT offers a valuable tool for students with intellectual disabilities struggling with handwriting, providing new opportunities for self-expression. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Students with mild intellectual disability often struggle with reading, limiting their learning potential. This study examines whether digital technology can enhance text comprehension among five students with mild intellectual disability in Sweden. Using a single-subject design, the student’s ability to comprehend and retell short, accessible texts was assessed under two conditions: reading independently and listening with text-to-speech (TTS). The results revealed varied outcomes; some students demonstrated notable improvements in text comprehension and increased independence when using TTS (PEM = 0.08–0.75), while others experienced minimal or no benefit. These findings suggest that TTS can be a valuable tool for some students but may not meet the needs of all, and teachers should consider alternative approaches to address the diverse needs of these students in developing text comprehension. Future research should further combine TTS with text comprehension strategies to enhance reading and listening comprehension for these students, highlighting the need for ongoing research to improve educational practices and ensure effective learning environments.

Creating an environment suitable for language acquisition through shared reading significantly contributes to improving a child's language development and parent–child relationship. Reading in an interactive way, such as dialogic reading, is favorable. Nevertheless, dialogic reading is designed for children above the age of two and shared reading is recommended to start during the child's first year. The present study aimed to explore the feasibility of an interactive shared reading intervention, inspired by dialogic reading, where the reading techniques were designed to complement infants’ preverbal developmental level. The study further intended to explore its preliminary effect on infants’ cognitive and language development. Eleven parent–infant dyads participated, bi-monthly, in four in-depth intervention sessions where the shared reading techniques were modeled. Between sessions, parents and infants engaged in shared reading using these techniques. Post-intervention interviews served to reflect the feasibility of the intervention. Infant cognitive and language assessments were conducted pre- and post-intervention using BAYLEY-III and CSBS DP ITC. Favorable results regarding feasibility and infant language development were found, however, for cognitive development the results were non-significant. We discuss clinical considerations and the scope for conducting future studies.

Students with intellectual disabilities need more time and explicit instruction to develop word decoding. Most previous research on interventions among these students is performed in English. Therefore, the current study examined the impact of a word-decoding intervention in Swedish on individual students with intellectual disabilities. A single-subject-design study was conducted with five students with mild intellectual disability in the fourth grade. They needed to enhance decoding, and Swedish was their first language. Their word and non-word decoding was measured during the baseline and intervention phases. The intervention with the Wolff Intensive Program was delivered by special education teachers supporting phonemic decoding and reading fluency training during 25 sessions. All five students developed their decoding as they decoded more words in a given time (NAP=0.84-1.00) and decreased their decoding errors in both word and nonword decoding (NAP=0.72-1.00). The results are promising but need to be confirmed in additional studies.

Purpose

This study presents several accounts of user experiences with assistive technology (AT). Although previous studies on dyslexic students reported promising results from using audiobooks, text-to-speech (TTS), and speech-to-text (STT), qualitative research is relatively sparse and short-term, and little is known about adolescents’ long-term experiences of using AT in schools. Therefore, this five-year follow-up study aimed to describe dyslexic students’ experiences of AT.

Materials and methods

Nine students with dyslexia were interviewed using a semi-structured framework and a descriptive pattern-based thematic analysis. The students had previously participated in an AT intervention in Sweden.

Results

Three main themes are reported: Contextual factors: facilitators or barriers; Emotional responses in the learning environment; Developing meaningful strategies. The results align with previous research findings that audiobooks are beneficial throughout the school years, while STT is of mixed utility. TTS was mainly used in learning to decode texts. Continued AT use is discussed thematically, concretising experiences connected to schools’ multilevel support.

Conclusions

This study can contribute to the development of AT academic practices enriched by users’ views. The findings reveal factors enabling or hindering students’ continued AT usage. Contextual factors in schools concern organisational elements rather than AT accessibility. Students’ emotional responses (using AT in the classroom) are influenced by dyslexia self-acceptance and AT attitudes. Students’ understanding of how and why to use AT may limit the development of meaningful strategies. Implications and suggested further research are provided to improve dyslexic students’ AT experiences and success in school.

This study investigates the reading performance of younger students with intellectual disabilities to gain insight into their needs in reading education. Participants were 428 students in Grades 1 to 3 in Sweden. They performed LegiLexi tests measuring pre-reading skills, decoding and reading comprehension based on the model of Simple View of Reading. Results demonstrate a great variation in reading acquisition among students. Some students are able to decode single words and read shorter texts with comprehension already in Grade 1. Other students still struggle with learning letters and developing phonological awareness in Grade 3. According to their longitudinal data over grades, results show that most students progress in pre-reading skills, decoding, and reading comprehension. Hence, assessing reading skills among students with intellectual disabilities in Grades 1-3 using tools aligned with the Simple View of Reading seems applicable and informative for teachers. This study underscores the significance of informed instructional practices for empowering these students in reading education.